Girls Basketball

Highland 43, Columbia 38:  Mya Aman scored 12 points for the Bruins.

The 2020 spending bill passed by Congress will include $2 million in funding for rural business development grants targeted for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.  The bill gives priority for the grants to “National Scenic Areas that have been devastated by wildfires,” a nod to the damage suffered in the Eagle Creek Fire two years ago.  The funding is intended to be used by the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District to create revolving loan funds to help support local Gorge businesses as they recover and grow following the fire.  The 2020 spending bill has been signed into law by the president.  A bipartisan group of Northwest senators and representatives worked on the getting the funding for some time.  Local officials had been seeking the funds, noting they were promised years ago upon the formation of the Scenic Area.

As a new year approaches, officials in The Dalles hope to determine whether or not to go to the Columbia River Gorge Commission to seek an expansion of the city’s urban growth boundary.  Mayor Rich Mays says to move forward, an inventory of lands that is currently underway needs to be wrapped up.  That survey will help the City determine if it needs to grow.  Mays notes the Gorge Commssion is moving toward having rules established for seeking a UGB expansion, so the City needs to be ready to make its case if the studies do show they need more land.

FISH Food Bank of Hood River County is busy sorting about three tons of food that was donated during drives by Hood River Valley High School and the Columbia Gorge Dance Academy.  Marianne Durkan of FISH says the drives have filled their Tucker Road warehouse, and the HRVHS food drive, along with the cans of food, brought in over $16,000 of cash donations that the organization will use to purchase more food.  FISH also has now opened a small pantry at Mid-Valley Elementary School in Odell.  Durkan says it is not very large, but the connection with the school will help them serve more people in need.

Klickitat County Commissioners have finalized their six-year transportation plan, and an improvement project for Courtney Road between White Salmon and Lyle is at the top of the list.  Commissioner Rex Johnston says they have a three-million dollar grant from the state to move ahead with what the County feels is a needed safety project.  Johnston says the big hurdle to clear is receiving the go-ahead from the Columbia River Gorge Commission.

Boys Basketball

Hood River Valley 81, Columbia 46

Riverside 61, Columbia 38

Crescent Valley 63, The Dalles 37

North Salem 82, The Dalles 64

Stevenson 77, Trout Lake 33

Kalama 55, Stevenson 52

Trout Lake 48, Lyle-Wishram 37

Perrydale 57, South Wasco 41

Prairie City 40, Sherman 30

Joseph 50, Sherman 39

Dufur 81, McKenzie 27

Dufur 80, Crow 13

Prairie City 55, Horizon Christian 51

Long Creek-Ukiah 52, Klickitat-Glenwood 51

Griswold 52, Klickitat-Glenwood 40

Granger 57, Goldendale 52’

Cle Elum-Roslyn 73, Goldendale 39

 

Girls Basketball

Gresham 49, Hood River Valley 42

The Dalles 58, Parkrose 42

Silverton 49, The Dalles 28

Columbia 46, Riverside 33

Trout Lake 55, Stevenson 51

Trout Lake 71, Lyle-Wishram 36

Echo 58, Lyle-Wishram 27

Perrydale 45, South Wasco 35

Joseph 53, South Wasco 43

Prairie City 45, Sherman 27

Dufur 60, McKenzie 9

Dufur 54, Crow 3

Griswold 37, Klickitat-Glenwood 27

Granger 39, Goldendale 23

Cle Elum-Roslyn 49, Goldendale 34

 

Swimming

Hood River Valley’s boys and girls both won their meet at Marist…with the boys topping the Spartans 84-69 and the girls winning 97-68.  Luke Southall, David Hecksel, and Gavin Hackett won two events each for the HRV boys, while Sarah Arpag won a pair for the Eagle girls.

 

The Dalles girls finished fourth and the boys eighth at the Bend Invitational.  Lydia DiGenaro finished third in the girls’ 50 yard freestyle to provide the top individual placing for the Riverhawks.

 

Wrestling

Chad Muenzer won the 138 pound division while Jayton Muenzer was third at 126 to lead Hood River Valley to an eighth place finish at the Liberty Invitational.  In girls’ competition, HRV’s Lauraine Smith finished fifth at 145 pounds to lead the Eagles to a 20^th place finish in the tournament.

 

The Dalles’ Dusty Dodge won the 182 pound division at the Adrian Irwin Tournament at Mountain View, as the Riverhawks finished 11^th in the team standings.

 

Stevenson won the Molalla Mayhem Tournament.  Andrew Garcia, Soloman Mahoney, and Brenden Dudley all won their weight classes for the Bulldogs.  12 Stevenson wrestlers gained top four finishes.

 

Goldendale won one of five matches in the Best of West Duals in Pasco, with their victory coming over West Valley of Spokane.

 

A proposed assisted living facility in White Salmon has been selected to receive funding from the state of Washington.  The Washington State Department of Commerce picked Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation’s White Salmon Assisted Living Facility to receive $750,000 in the 2019 Housing Trust Fund application cycle.  That would be used to leverage private investments in the development of the 52 unit assisted living facility.  CCHC will now look to obtain a Conditional Use Permit for the project.  A public hearing is scheduled in front of the Klickitat County Board of Adjustment on January 6.

By a two-to-one vote, the Wasco County Commission approved an update of land use and development ordinances passed by the City of The Dalles that includes a state-mandated provision requiring multi-family “middle housing” to be allowed on properties zoned for single-family dwellings.  The County approves City land use ordinance revisions for lands within the urban growth boundary under a joint management agreement with the City.  A presentation from County planning staff indicated the new state law applied to UGB lands.  Commissioner Scott Hege, who voted no, disagreed with that interpretation.  Oregon legislators approved the requirement earlier this year for cities with a population over 10,000.

Hood River County Commissioners have asked Sheriff Matt English and County Administrator Jeff Hecksel to develop financial figures on what it would take to increase Sheriff’s Office patrol levels.  The request came after Commissioners learned the results of an online survey of County residents on public safety services priorities as the Commission prepares to seek a public safety operations levy sometime in 2020.  Patrol, investigations, prosecutions, and emergency management topped the responses.  English and Hecksel will present their information to the Commission at a worksession on December 30.

The White Salmon Valley School District will be seeking what is now being called a “replacement enhancement” levy in February.  The enhancement levy replaces what used to be known as a maintenance and operations levy, part of the Washington Legislature’s revamp of how education is funded in the state in the wake of the McCleary decision.  The district will be running a three-year levy that would start at $2.22 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and goes down to $2.19 and $2.16 in years two and three.  Superintendent Jerry Lewis says this levy would allow the district to get back to a stable funding picture after having to dip into reserves to balance the current school year’s budget.  The levy will be on the February 11 ballot.